Child Rapists from Guatemala Settling in New Rochelle

It is time to acknowledge that New Rochelle has a serious and growing problem with illegal immigrants from Guatemala raping children including their own daughters, importing to the United States what has become an epidemic in their home country.

In the past 90 days, there have been three convictions in cases where an illegal immigrant from Guatemala was arrested by New Rochelle police and charged with child rape.

In Guatemala, most pregnancies among girls under 14 are the result of rape at the hands of fathers or other relatives, but often it is the girl who is forced to leave the family home, and few perpetrators are punished, said a leading rights campaigner. Nearly a quarter of all births in Guatemala are among teenage mothers - one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy in Latin America.

Guatemala has one of the world's highest teen pregnancy rates, according to data available, more than 5,100 girls under 14 had babies in 2014. However, in 2012, there were only 2,000 recorded cases of girls younger then the age of 14 giving birth to babies. The alarming rise of teenage pregnancies in the country is not the shocking aspect, what is even more disturbing is the fact that in 90% percent of the cases, the father of the child is a relative. It gets worse, in 30% of the cases the pregnancy is result of the girl being raped by her own father.

Violence here permeates all aspects of society and it seems there are few places where it is safe to be a child. Each day, 22 cases of sexual abuse are reported. At the Prosecutor's Office I meet Marisol (15) who is from Tecpán, a town about two hours from Guatemala City. Dressed in a brightly coloured traditional Mayan outfit, she says that when she grows up she would like to become a psychologist so she can help other girls who have been abused. Marisol was repeatedly raped by her father and after escaping from her home later gave evidence in a "Gesell Chamber", a child-friendly room where children can safely give their testimonies. Before the Gesell Chambers were introduced with Unicef support in Guatemala impunity rates were staggeringly high – in 2010 just four per cent of child abuse cases resulted in a sentence. Due to Marisol's testimony her father is now serving seven years in prison.

Santos Garcia, 41, an illegal alien from Guatamala, was rushed to Jacobi Medical Center by paramedics after he was found in his cell covered in his own blood. The prisoner’s pants and shirt were soaked in fresh blood. There was more blood beneath him on the bed frame.

Police officers hand-cuffed the prisoner then attempted to locate the source of the blood. A small hole was observed in the prisoner’s pants pocket. The blood appeared to emanate from self-inflicted wounds in the testes, according to police reports obtained by Talk of the Sound under a Freedom of Information request. Garcia was taken to the Jacobi Medical Center Emergency Room for medical treatment for his injuries and then to the Pyscholgical Unit for psychological evaluation.

Garcia appeared to have mutilated his testicles with some sort of metal object.

Garcia had been sentenced earlier that day in New Rochelle City Court after he was arrested on outstanding warrant at Ruby Dee Park in front of the New Rochelle Public Library.